Bolin named Area 5 SWCD Supervisor of the Year
BOLIN HONORED AT WINTER MEETING - Allan Johnson, left, a member of the Ohio Federation of Soil and Water Conservation Districts Area 5 Board of Directors, and Steve Jenkins, right, Meigs SWCD program administrator, present a jacket to Joe Bolin who was named Supervisor of the Year at the Area 5 winter meeting on Dec. 10. Johnson is also a supervisor for the Hocking SWCD.
CIRCLEVILLE – Joe Bolin, Rutland, was named Supervisor of the Year at the Ohio Federation of Soil and Water Conservation District’s Area 5 annual winter meeting held Dec. 10 near Circleville.
OFSWCD Area 5 comprises 17 counties and their respective SWCDs in central and southeastern Ohio ranging from Delaware and Franklin counties in the north, Brown and Highland counties in the southwest, and Meigs and Athens counties in the southeast.
As a 24-year member of the Meigs SWCD Board of Supervisors, Bolin began his first term on Jan. 1, 1992, and will be starting his ninth consecutive term in January, 2016.
In addition to the Meigs SWCD Board of Supervisors, Bolin serves on the Meigs County Community Improvement Corporation, has been a member of the Rutland Township Board of Trustees for more than 20 years, and has also served on numerous other boards and committees in the county. He also served on the state Clean Ohio Board and the Buckeye Hills Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) Council, which serves nine counties in southeastern Ohio.
He also held area and state offices as a member of the Ohio Federation of Soil and Water Conservation District Board of Directors, and has traveled around the country representing Ohio at meetings of the National Association of Conservation District.
Bolin was introduced by Meigs SWCD program administrator Steve Jenkins.
“I can’t begin to express my gratitude to him for his help through the years,” Jenkins said. “When I took over as administrator 11 years ago this month, he was there to help me get going in the right direction.
“We’ve been through a lot of stuff together. I can probably count on one hand the number of board meetings he’s missed in those 11 years,” Jenkins added. “He has faithfully supported our staff by coming to meetings, events, helping at our conservation area and has even made a couple trips to Washington, D.C. when things weren’t going so well with a federal partner.
“He is without a doubt one of the greatest supporters and promoters of conservation in the state of Ohio, and has been for the last 24 years,” he concluded.
Also attending were Meigs SWCD Supervisor Keith Bentz, Supervisor-elect Tony Carnahan, Meigs County Treasurer Peggy Yost, and Carrie Crislip, Natural Resources Conservation Service’s district conservationist for Meigs and Jackson counties.
Bolin and his wife, Janet, reside in Rutland Township.
The Meigs SWCD, established in 1943, is a legal subdivision of state government that provides natural resource management assistance to county landowners and other units of local government. The district is funded by the Meigs County Board of Commissioners, and county funds are supplemented by funding from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. The district is governed by a five-member board of supervisors, all county residents.
All 88 counties in Ohio are represented by an SWCD.
